So here's the obvious mayoral day-after question: In a race in which Destiny USA, at the end, became the decisive issue, why didn't Joanie Mahoney create just a little distance between herself and the developer of the project?

Looking back on it, it seems clear that the pivotal moment in the campaign was when the focus turned to Destiny, rather than downtown development. This afternoon I called Jack Cookfair, Mahoney's strategist, to ask why Mahoney never tried to set herself apart, even in a small way, especially when it became clear that Destiny was giving Mahoney big financial support.

Why not say flat-out what Mahoney hinted at - that she opposed the use of eminent domain for the Destiny research park in Salina? Why not emphasize support for Destiny as a concept while pledging to oppose any use of eminent domain for Destiny-related construction on the North Side?

The answer, Cookfair said, was always simple: "You could never get her to say something she didn't believe," he said.

He described Mahoney as a partner, rather than a client, in mapping strategy. Cookfair also agreed with this analysis: Mahoney was confident that she had enough of a relationship with Destiny developer Bob Congel that she would be able to negotiate with him in good faith, and she was unwilling to create the illusion of a fracture that did not exist.

Would that fracture have been enough to change the minds of 600 wavering voters, who could have changed the final result in the city's closest mayoral race in 80 years? Cookfair said the point about Destiny is moot. There is no way, he said, that Mahoney would have agreed to do something she saw as only "expedient."